The Age of Braxis
by pappaceda
Summary: Natives of the planet Braxis want their independance, but there is a long war ahead and some hidden hands who will reveal themselves when the time is right. violence and politics. this is my first story attempt, so i would welcome any suggestions
1. Chapter 1

Introduction:

With the weakening of the Confederacy in the sector, their hold on their most distant systems has waned. Now the ever present lust for power, as well as many ancient grudges against the Confederacy, have been awakened in the new vacuum.

On the world of Braxis the situation is predictable: a power struggle will soon sweep over the entire planet. For the time being there is no interference from the outside. The new self-proclaimed emperor Mengsk does not have the reach to take Braxis and all other empires that once held sway have dissipated.

The UED fleet, which seemingly came from nowhere, has now left in the same manner, and the fractured reports of an ominous new Zerg incarnation, somewhere amongst the stars has not yet made an appearance.

Braxis has always been in the dominion of foreigners. She is a jewel, with vast natural resources that has never been her own master. And there are many Braxians who dream of a liberated Braxis that may, one day, have dominions of her own.

Already, natives of the ice world have challenged the failing UED administration. Under Ados, Pery and Jonas, a triumvirate of upstart military leaders and former marines, they have taken the city of Elysium in the south and named it the new Capital of the Triad.

Chapter 1

The blizzard swallowed up the staunch metallic spires of Elysium city.

Ados stared out of the small window in the government building until the view before him was completely white.

As always, numbers were running through his head.

The city had over three hundred thousand inhabitants and was the largest in the southern province of Prova. The Triad had been stationed here for the last month and would remain here for another four, until the worst of the winter was over.

War on Braxis had to be planned around the planet's vicious winters: while the blizzards were raging, they were being awarded the opportunity to consolidate their conquest of Elysium and to plan their offensives for the spring.

As was becoming custom, Ados was in command of the planning and strategizing. His talent with figures and his astonishingly accurate instincts had taken the Triad from a small underground force of a few dozen members to the point where they now controlled a city of a third of a million people.

But another quality of Ados, one which was shared by his two colleagues in command was a burning ambition which would not be eased until all of Braxis was theirs. And perhaps not even then.

He had already run dozens of scenarios through his mind of possible conquests of the planet. He privately predicted that the Triad would be on the verge of taking Boralis, the old Confederate capital, within three years.

He had also begun secret preparations for the day when he may have to dispose of Pery and Jonas. To him this was not a form of betrayal but rather an inevitability, repeated time and again throughout history.

He had to improve his chances for when the time came and he suspected that his friends were doing the same.

Outside, the blizzard calmed and the watermark cityscape of Elysium reappeared. Thick strands of dark smoke billowed out from hundreds of towering chimneys, the only signs that alluded to the massive production effort that was taking place in the industrial bowels of the city.

The pressure was on to spend the winter months producing more combat units than the enemy: Vultures, goliaths and siege tanks were being rolled out by the thousands every month. The crews for these machines as well men for the infantry were being recruited from all over the city. People were flocking to them in the way that they had never flocked to the Confederacy – voluntarily and with conviction.

This was one of the things that gave the Triad a distinct advantage, Ados thought with satisfaction. Of course there were those that were unconvinced by the movement. To them it didn't matter who was running the show - theirs own lives would remained unchanged. But skillful propaganda was making sure that those people were kept in the minority. They would be sidelined for their cynicism and lethargy by the more malleable majority.

The whirr of a door opening caused Ados to turn. The six most important people within the Triad walked into the newly-designated War Room.

"You're early", Jonas said, "I think you're taking this war business too seriously old man"

He spoke with a grin as usual and Ados smiled back wisely, as though he were dealing with a juvenile. But Jonas had served with him as a marine for the old Confederacy and was at least as experienced as he was.

They all took their places around the large table.

Ados looked at each face. All the highest ranking members of the Triad were present: the Triumvirate, Xavier and Sandra who were both generals and Tanya, who had become indispensable to them as the leader of their ghost division. She also happened to be of one the planet's most gifted ghosts herself.

Pery began the meeting by droning on about the latest happenings with the inbound logistics. In the middle of winter most of the trade routes were closed and there wasn't much of a materials influx. They had hoarded most of the needed components in the autumn – enough to keep the assembly lines busy until spring.

Some of their more specialized components were still being imported by large cargo ships once a month. These massive ships were the only craft that could navigate in the blizzard. They were an expensive alternative but thankfully there was no shortage of funds, thanks to their many Confederate-hating benefactors and the financial genius of Pery himself.

Throughout his monologue, only Ados listened intently. Jonas and Tanya were both clearly bored and impatient to get into the more direct process of planning the spring offensive.

Once Pery had finished, Ados announced that production was on schedule. Within four months they would land-based army of ten thousand siege tanks, twenty thousand vultures each with spider-mine deployment and fifteen thousand goliaths arranged in divisions of twenty. They would also have 300 centurions of infantry, split into squads of ten men each: It would be the planet's largest army.


	2. Chapter 2

The meeting in the Triad's war-room stretched out into a span of hours. The focus turned onto the spring campaign, and it was here that Jonas suddenly seemed to come alive after a brief coma.

"Any news from Nodoria?" he asked.

"None" Tanya answered "The UED is not making any undue preparations"

One of the Triad's biggest problems was that Elysium had no startport capabilities. It had long ago been agreed that their first priority for the spring was to move quickly and take the Nodorian shipyards to the north. It would be an obvious move that anyone should deduce and Jonas was amazed that the UED were not reinforcing their stations there.

But Tanya's next words interrupted his thoughts.

"There has been some unusual traffic just to the north however. A trade carrier with one of our agent on board chanced on a large caravan fifty miles from Nodoria. They do not respond to radio transmissions in any way and there's no reason why they should risk traveling in winter. It doesn't add up"

"How big is this caravan?" Ados asked

"Two, maybe three hundred people and quite a load of supplies which we know nothing of"

"Are they UED?" Jonas asked

"No, they use encrypted transmissions and they are not communicating with the Nodorian stations at all. There's something sinister about all this"

"Who do they communicate with?" Ados asked.

"All of their transmissions are to and from Boralis"

"So that makes them UED" Jonas stated "They don't want us to know they're reinforcing Nodoria, so they sneak a caravan in there in the middle of winter. It's obvious"

Tanya shook her head

"The UED knows nothing about it. Otherwise they would be sending encrypted messages to Nodoria as well and nobody in Nodoria even knows they're there. The only transmissions we detected were the ones to and from Boralis"

But Jonas had made up his mind,

"Look, obviously they're going to extraordinary lengths to hide themselves from us. That's what I would expect from the UED. They know we're going to attack the shipyards, so they're preparing a convoluted little surprise for us. What makes you think otherwise?"

Tanya looked around the table. With a trace of timidness she spoke.

"I understand your viewpoint Jonas, but I just feel that's not how it is"

Jonas did not respond. Instead he looked at Ados who instantly registered the look in his comrade's stare

_You're the one with faith in Ghosts, you deal with this_

Tanya saw this but continued.

"They're not communicating with the UED. There's something happening in Boralis - its – just – it's moving in strange ways that I haven't quite figured out"

Ados was secretly forced to agree: his intelligence reports revealed that a nebulous tension was rising around the capital city: The UED was having some trouble with the populace. There was no open rebellion yet but large numbers of civil officers were being assassinated for unknown reasons and by unknown agencies. Nightime traffic was also increasing and underground activities seemed to be swelling up, moving with an unknown purpose. Jonas spoke out abruptly

"Well, whatever's going on there, there's nothing can do about. We can worry about Boralis when we get to it"

But Ados was not inclined to treat Tanya's observation as moot. He knew about the strange energies of ghosts. He also knew that Tanya would not have raised the issue if she didn't think it was worth their concern. Somehow the idea bothered Ados. It was as though he had forgotten something crucial.

Without further comment he closed the meeting and left the room, beckoning Tanya to walk with him.

As the rest of the group got up to leave, Jonas and Pery glanced at each other with a knowing look. Their comrade had obviously realized something that he would not reveal to them until he had paced around in his quarters for hours and arrived at an answer. That was Ados. They left the room together in search of a drink, and quickly forgot his abruptness. After all, it was one of Ados' traits that made them glad that he was on their side.

But in his quarters, Ados turned his mind to Boralis, unable to reason away his unease.


	3. Chapter 3

The perpetual snowstorm was sweeping over Boralis as it was sweeping over every other city in the southern hemisphere of the planet. There would be no trace of sunlight and no break in the clouds for months to come.

Kudra kept his eyes focused on the lights that flickered from the Compound, where the government buildings loomed over the city, three miles away.

After a moments pause, he turned to face the fifteen men who filled the room behind him – all fierce-looking and cold in a way that made Kudra nervous, despite the fact that they had all pledged their loyalty to him. He unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fist behind his back.

"We have thirty minutes to get into position- Make sure this goes flawlessly, gentlemen"

At his abrupt signal they moved out, leaving the room empty but for Kudra and his right hand man, Olis.

Olis waited for the door to close before he turned to his employer.

"Sir, our sponsors are becoming edgy, they're under the impression that we're keeping them in the dark"

"Well that's true enough" Kudra said as he walked to a table laden with an assortment of weapons – the best that Confederate money could buy. He tossed a handgun to Olis and strapped several on himself.

"Don't worry about that now. Our only worry is to make sure that their investment pays off. After that they'll be standing in line to kiss our asses"

He looked directly at his aide.

"And after all this is over, we'll be sitting at posh, formal occasions, waving our hands at servants and chatting with dignitaries. Better days are on every horizon for us, Olis. We just need to get this right first"

Olis allowed himself to smile now that they were speaking in private. Most of the formalities vanished when no one else was around. He noticed Kudra's voice rising and his eyes glazing over.

"By tomorrow, we will have Boralis. Then we will take the rest of the planet. We will have to wipe out those upstarts at Elysium. It will not be long before that rabble of uneducated natives is subdued for they will soon realize what they're up against and give in. But even when they have been defeated our work will not be done. There are other enemies that will appear after that, when power is finally in our hands. Nevertheless, if we play our part, we will prevail"

Olis listened in silence, accustomed to his commander's taste for drama. Kudra would not let the occasion pass without a tribute to its significance. Olis' only responsibility was to make sure that he did not get too far ahead of himself.

"Today will not be an easy battle" he said

Kudra nodded and took a deep breath.

"You're right. We have work to do. In a way I'm glad we don't have to skulk in the shadows anymore, Olis. Sometimes force has a way of simplifying things'


End file.
